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Zelphia
Pronounced ZEL-fee-uh /ΛzΙl.fi.Ι/Medium
Meaning: Zelphia reads as a blend of the biblical Zilpah, a name from the Old Testament of uncertain meaning, with Delphia, from Philadelphia, so it joins a scriptural name to a soft -phia ending.Low
Popularity in the U.S. Β· SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880βpresent). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Zelphia looks like a blend of the biblical Zilpah, a handmaid named in Genesis, with the -phia of Delphia. Such scripture-flavored coinages were common in the rural South, and it appeared for girls only faintly, around 1921.
It was never common, given to only about twenty girls a year at most, and it had faded by the nineteen-seventies. A girl named Zelphia then would be a great-grandmother now. It reads as an old regional coinage rather than a name coming back.
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Zelphia mean?
It is a blend of the biblical Zilpah with Delphia, from Philadelphia.
How do you pronounce Zelphia?
It is said ZEL-fee-uh /ΛzΙl.fi.Ι/, three syllables with the stress on the first.
Is Zelphia a boy or girl name?
Zelphia is used as a girls name.
How popular is Zelphia?
It has always been very rare, given to only about twenty girls a year at its peak in the early nineteen-twenties.